Anger Management
by Autumn L
Summary: G1. Blaster tries to get to the root of Ramhorn's attitude problem, but instead gains something else. Update 7/09 - fixed formatting.


**Anger Management**

_[Author's Note: For the April '07 Allspark Fic Challenge. ]_

* * *

Blaster watched with half-shuttered optics as Ramhorn charged at the solid metal wall again, slamming into the exact same spot as he had five times previous. Neither he nor the wall gave ground. He leaped back with a snort and circled around for another charge.

After the eighth time Blaster got up from his post and went over, leaning against the wall to the left of the barely-perceptible dent. He let Ramhorn make contact then spoke before the rhino could turn. "Pardon me for askin', but _what_ are you doin', bro?"

"What's it look like?" the Cassette snorted. "And I ain't your bro. Do we _look_ related?"

Blaster kept his arms folded across his chest despite the urge to put a hand on the rhino to stop him from walking away. He let him make another charge before speaking again. "Looks don't matter, you're still part of my crew. You tryin' to puncture the wall or break your face?"

"The wall will give before _I_ do!" Ramhorn raged, turning and menacing Blaster's shin.

The boom box shifted out of the way in a dance step to make it seem he wasn't merely out to avoid damage. "What'd the wall do this week?"

Ramhorn glared up at him. "Don't try to be funny."

"I ain't. Seriously, what's up with this wall? Why not the one on the next block over?"

"You're mockin' me now." He pawed the ground.

"You're gonna take everything I say the wrong way anyway."

Ramhorn snorted and glared some more. After a few kliks Blaster arched an optic ridge. "So, what _is_ the deal?"

This time the rhino moved too fast for Blaster to dodge. His leg was knocked out from under him and he went down with a "HEY!!" Even as he was getting himself up on his elbows he felt the smaller mech impact with the middle of his back. Blaster grunted in annoyance and started to turn to grab the rhino, but then he felt himself being shifted. Ramhorn was trying to toss _him._ Blaster managed to get one of his feet braced so he could launch himself into a handstand. That foiled Ramhorn long enough for Blaster to flip onto his feet. He crouched down, lower leg actuators flexing in anticipation of springing out of the way if the rhino charged again. He met and held the smaller mech's optics. _I could end this right now by callin' security. He's attackin' a fellow Autobot. But that ain't gonna get to the root of this._

Blaster beckoned with one hand. Ramhorn pawed the ground, snorted, then charged, his horn aimed at Blaster's knee joint.

The boom box shifted his left leg to present his speaker. A blast of heavy metal music issued forth at a hundred and fifty decibels. Ramhorn didn't slow for a second. Blaster back-flipped out of the way and kept moving as the rhino slid, turned, and followed, pounding after him no matter how many moves he pulled. All the while Blaster kept blasting the music, guitars and vocals screaming away. Someone was bound to hear and come running to see if everything was all right -- or tell him to turn it down. Probably the latter.

He cranked up the volume even louder.

Ramhorn was powerful but no where near as agile. If there had been something other than sheer walls he might have been able to keep up with Blaster's acrobatics. As it was he bounced himself off of said walls a few times but after a while Blaster was changing direction too quickly for him to re-align himself with the boom box.

Eventually Blaster began to wonder how long _he_ could keep things up. He had expected the Cassette would have worn himself down by now. _What_ could be fueling the little guy, and why was he so consumed that he was willing to take it out on another Autobot?

Blaster stopped abruptly, falling backward onto his hands and presenting his speakers side by side. Just as Ramhorn was about to hit him he put the volume on max -- hurting his own audio receptors, and that was saying something. The walls around them shuddered. Ramhorn snarled something as he was thrown to the ground.

Blaster cut the volume to zero and let his legs fall flat. "Gonna be a long time before I go to a rock concert again." He hoped that had been enough to knock the rhino down for a few kliks. He couldn't really move much, himself, just then. The chase had gone on long enough.

He felt something nudge his side and lifted his head, the hand on his opposite side coming up to just plain smack Ramhorn. But the nudge didn't have any force behind it. When he finally got a better look, he saw the rhino was sitting back on his haunches. Ramhorn didn't say anything. He still looked angry.

"Your face is gonna stick that way."

"Shut up."

Blaster waited for further retaliation but Ramhorn didn't move. After a while Blaster stood up. "I'm goin' back to work." The rhino still didn't move so Blaster left him there.

* * *

"Blast that Blaster and his _noise,"_ Grapple groused to Hoist, or anyone listening, which weren't necessarily the same thing. "He 'accidentally' leaked music into the line when I was trying to explain to Prime about that new set of solar panels I came up with last week. Our communications officer should be _aiding_ communication, not interfering!"

"Maybe it merely _was_ an accident," Hoist offered, not all that concerned with the complaint.

"He shouldn't be listening to music when he's on duty anyway! It's such a distraction! Not to mention his _taste_ in the stuff."

There was a clang against the door. Grapple looked over to see a small brown mech pawing at the floor. "Anything _else_ you wanna say about Blaster?"

"I could go on," Grapple said, shrugging. "He doesn't seem to mind disrupting the concentration of others when he feels like sharing--"

"STOW IT!!" The rhino charged. Hoist hastened out of the way as Grapple ran past, Ramhorn snorting and snarling after him.

**End**

(c) 2007 Autumn L. (aka Shiri) This work may not be copied, distributed, or reprinted without the author's permission. Blaster, Ramhorn, Grapple, and Hoist belong to Hasbro and Takara.


End file.
